He has to be stopped or he’ll wreck the business

As Superdry founder eyes a comeback, new bosses warn...

Superdry has shut the door on co-founder Julian dunkerton, saying it will be damaging and divisive if he returns to the board.

Shareholders in the fashion group vote on April 2 on whether the 54- year- old should be reinstated as a director amid a dispute between the two sides.

The company has heavily criticised the businessman in a lastditch bid to keep him out.

It accused him of coming up with clothing ranges which sold poorly and failing to accept this was his fault.

Superdry’s management said: ‘The board unanimously believes that Mr dunkerton’s return to [ Superdry], in any capacity, would be extremely damaging to the company and its prospects.

‘ It would lead to a strategy that would fail, be divisive, lead to dysfunctional relationships with the board and management, damage morale across the business and cause departures of key personnel.’

dunkerton ( pictured with his wife, 32-year- old designer Jade

Holland Cooper) left Superdry last year after founding it in 1985 from a market stall in Cheltenham. But the father- of-two has accused management of ‘failing dismally’ and wants to stage a comeback. He is Superdry’s largest shareholder, with an 18.4pc stake worth £77.8m.

dunkerton and co- founder James Holder, 47, have also proposed that peter Williams, 65, chairman of online retailer Boohoo, should get a place on the board.

Superdry’s bosses, who include chief executive euan Sutherland and chairman peter Bamford, said dunkerton’s return would be a disaster.

Sutherland, 42, has been overhauling the brand’s product range so it relies less on heavy winter coats, which have traditionally accounted for about half of its annual sales.

But the firm has struggled to turn around its fortunes, with the value of stock down about 70pc over the past year.

In december Superdry warned full-year profits will be lower than expected, and posted a decline in sales over the critical Christmas period. The dismal figures saw dunkerton declare it Superdry’s weakest performance in the company’s 34-year history.

He accused bosses of failing to come up with exciting new products. But the company maintains that its latest clothes were signed off by dunkerton – a claim which he denies. He has said shareholders are being ‘lied to by management’ and accused directors of cutting him out of the design process in the months leading to his departure.

A Superdry spokesman said: ‘ Mr dunkerton has failed to accept any responsibility for the autumn and winter 2018 range, even going as far as to claim that he had no involvement despite extensive and detailed evidence to the contrary.’

Analysts suggested dunkerton will lose his battle for a board seat. John Stevenson at peel Hunt said: ‘With Julian out of the business you are going to lose a bit of the dNA. But the current management appear to have the full support of shareholders.’

russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, added: ‘This isn’t a tug-of-war where the party with the strongest arm wins the day. It is a battle whose victor will be decided by shareholders, as they are part-owners of the business.

‘We’re currently at the stage where this is a blame-game with both sides calling each other nasty names.

‘The real test will come when the vote takes place.’